Chattel Slavery

Definition

Chattel slavery is the most brutal form of slavery, where people are treated as personal property that can be bought, sold, or given away. They and their descendants are permanently enslaved.

Related terms

Plantation System: A system of large-scale agriculture that concentrates on growing cash crops using slave labor.

Slave Codes: These were laws in each US state defining the status of slaves and the rights of masters. They gave absolute power to the master.

Abolitionism: This is a movement to end slavery, whether formal or informal. In Western Europe and Americas abolitionism was a historical movement to end African and Indian slavery.